Archive for May, 2009
Rafael Nadal at the French Open
PARIS — In the pink – but on the blink.
That was a dazed Rafa Nada at 5:54 Sunday afternoon as he blew a volley after three and a half hours of play and his last chance to stay unbeaten in Paris and win a fifth successive French Open.
The explosion you heard from the direction of Roland Garros was Rafa going up in smoke, a colossal victim. The clay court seemed to shake.
Pink was his dazzling shirt color, with bright yellow headband and wrist bands for the European season, but I doubt he’ll wear them again. Mournful memories of the 6-2, 6-7 (2-7), 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) blind-siding by Robin Soderling, a stranger to major fourth rounds until this time. It was the first time Rafa had even lost a set in Paris since the 2007 final against Roger Federer. He has never been extended to five sets in his streak of 31 matches here. continue reading »
May 31 2009 | French Open | 3 Comments »
Sailboats and reflections
Where are the noise police? Who will protect our eardrums? Is the women’s game, normally a fine shooting match, degenerating into a shouting match? Has sportsmanship gone the way of the typewriter?
These were some of the questions raised Friday as the multitude of 15,000 booed and whistled their disapproval of a new kid on the block named Michelle Larcher de Brito. The French are first-class whistlers, and when they chirp it can be cutting. So sharp that it brought tears to Michelle’s 16-year-old face. The locals didn’t care for her shrieking throughout a 7-6 (7-3), 6-2, loss to France’s Aravane Rezai. Or the kid’s brushing off the traditional congratulatory handclasp with a passing-by touch of the victor’s outstretched hand.
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May 30 2009 | French Open | 10 Comments »
Place Vendome
Better to see her than hear her. Nevertheless it was good to have the Siberian Siren — Maria Sharapova (ranked 102) — among us again, despite her shrieks that cause many to turn off the sound whenever she appears on their TV screens. Noise and all she was welcome as a long-legged gem of the game, who just might slug her way back to No. 1.
All right, am I going overboard after one match — Wednesday’s thriller, an unexpected narrow victory over another heavy artillery babe from Russia, No. 11 Nadia Petrova, 6-2, 1-6, 8-6 in 2:11. Possibly, but Maria’s combative nature and baseline blasts against tough opposition made this a sensational match that rocked the French Open’s Lenglen Court. She lagged 2-4 in the 3rd, had to duck 2 break points in a harrowing 4 deuce game to keep Petrova from serving for it at 5-4.
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May 27 2009 | French Open | No Comments »
Detail of Pont Alexandre
Isn’t Zakopalova a wonderful name?
Sounds like lallapalooza, and that’s what Zakopalova presented us with on the third day of the French Open — a lallapalooza of a match that almost swept Serena the Great out of Paris before she’d unpacked her luggage. I’m talking about Klara Zakopalova, a mite out of Prague ranked No. 100 who could probably fit into one of Ms. Williams’ handbags. Appropriately they collided on the Suzanne Lenglen Court, named for the unbeatable French diva of the 1920s, who really turned women on to tennis.
Suzanne would have loved this enthralling 3-set tussle as much as the 8000 onlookers in her playground. Fiercely battling from the baseline, lengthening points with dashing saves, they often brought admiring gasps from the bundled-up witnesses late in a day that featured rain and wind as well as touches of March, May, July and November.
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May 26 2009 | French Open | 2 Comments »
Mime with Bud on the Champs Elysees
PARIS — As the lone major on slip-slide clay, the French Open seems to offer more opportunities than the other three for reversals of fortune, amazing turn-arounds and unlikely comebacks. We were reminded of the vagaries of Roland Garros on opening day as Lleyton Hewitt climbed from a hole 2 sets deep to beat Ivo Karlovic. Lleyton was a little beaver gnawing away until he’d toppled the tallest tree in the forest, 6-10 Karlovic.
This recalled anniversaries of a few improbable victorious recoveries. How about the 20th of Michael Chang, whose 1989 championship probably should have been won by three-time victor, No.1 Ivan Lendl? Chang, behind by 2 sets and cramping in the 4th round nevertheless somehow kept going, outmaneuvered Lendl and went on to beat highly favored Stefan Edberg in the 5-set final.
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May 25 2009 | French Open | No Comments »
10th Arrondissement Arch at Porte St. Denis, built in 1672 to honor Louis IV victories, it was restored in 1988.
PARIS — Lleyton Hewitt must have felt like one of those ducks in a carnival shooting gallery. Bang…bang…bang! — it went on for about four hours as a carnival called the French Open set up shop again in the sunny Bois de Boulogne neighborhood of Paris.
It will go on, as always, for two weeks, but the biggest shooter in tennis is gone. Ivo Karlovic’s pursuit of an Australian duck named Hewitt was spectacular. Ivo was a one-man firing squad as he targeted Hewitt and nailed him with a tournament record 55 aces. Nevertheless, Hewitt got away with the victory even though he lost the first two sets, 6-7 (1-7), 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, 6-3.
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May 24 2009 | French Open | No Comments »
The most beautiful hotel flowers I've ever seen are to be found in the lobby of the George V, The Four Seasons in Paris
PARIS — So, does Roger return to his former status as “the greatest player of all time”? Probably, at least with some of his countless idolaters, who took his recent hammerings by Rafa Nadal personally. They suffered. He suffered. The Federer family suffered. But Madrid alleviated some of that suffering.
However, Madrid isn’t Paris. Just as Little Rock isn’t Las Vegas. The difference is that Madrid was a tournament of admitted substance in a nifty new ball park — but Paris is a limited edition, one of the year’s four lalapaloozas, a treasure that dangles temptingly above 256 outstretched male and female hands like the apples of Hesperides. Paris, for Roundhouse Rafa, and Sister Serena is halfway to the grail — the Grand Slam.
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May 23 2009 | French Open | No Comments »
Arc de Triumph du Carrousel, built in 1808, provides a gateway to the Louvre
En-route to Paris — Paris, the year’s second major, looms, along with a guy who may be more monumental than the Eiffel Tower. That would be Rafa Nadal of course, and here’s my advice to Messrs Federer, Murray, Djokovic, Roddick and anyone else who would hope to flatten him: Show up in a tank equipped with flame throwers.
Rafa has become such a striking landmark in Paris, where he has won the last four French Opens, that he rivals one of Rodin’s statues – and is as tough to dislodge. They ought to give him a gold key to the city, and a rent-free apartment at the top of Notre Dame alongside Quasimodo. If Quasi is the Hunchback of Notre Dame, Roundhouse Rafa is the Punchback with those big, powerful swings. continue reading »
May 13 2009 | French Open and Tournaments | 5 Comments »
We’ve been adding a lot of travel articles Bud has written over the years. Check them out… over on the left you can choose a country or click “Travel” and browse around. Enjoy! -ed
May 07 2009 | Messages | No Comments »
